A Bitcoin mining facility in Hadsel municipality, Norway has been shut down following persistent complaints that regard the issuing facility as a noise pollution, but closing the facility has increased electricity cost for local residents by 20%. Conceding 80 GWh of electricity annually, about the year’s consumption of around 3,200 households, the mining facility had become a source of great nuisance to both local residents and politicians.
Nominally, noise from cooling fans on site had been a constant headache for the residents, as reported by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). The mining company had defended that they were operating within acceptable limits to the nation’s standards, but it would be uncontested that the disturbance had been considerable. Mayor Kjell-Børge Freiberg from Hadsel said that with the facility closed, the locality could well enjoy relief on one of its oldest headaches.
The blackout has resulted in an unintended economic effect for the municipality. The Bitcoin mining center is a substantial customer for Noranett, one of Norway’s 85 grid companies that actually distribute electricity from power stations to end-consumers. Noranett thus suffers from a lack of income due to loss of this big client, which will continue to translate into more electricity customers being affected.
Network manager at Noranett, Robin Jakobsen, said the city’s shutdown would leave locals to bridge that financial gap. Next month, the average household electricity bill-which earlier had ranged between NOK 12,000 and 13,000 yearly (approximately $1,130 and $1,225)-will increase by NOK 2,500 to 3,000.
In line with this, Mayor Freiberg said that with higher costs, the city is looking for more projects for revenue replacement and the stabilization of the price of electricity. However, he admits that the cost for the municipality of power system regulation will take its toll, and solution will come at the cost of time.
Such circumstances clearly reveal an intense interrelationship between big industrial operations and small communities, which actually indicates a far wider influence of such facilities on regional economy and infrastructure.
